Published on
Updated
Reading 2 min.
Ten short minutes! This is the amount of time it takes to complete a simple test to measure the impact of any digital media on your mental health. Developed by a world-renowned American psychiatrist, this short experiment could help you limit your exposure to some of these media, including social networks, often singled out for their harmful effects on well-being.
To what extent can social networks affect the mental health of the population? This is the question being asked by the scientific community, which has been carrying out research on the subject for several years. Users themselves believe that social media influences their well-being, as revealed by several surveys carried out in France and around the world. As part of an awareness campaign about these harms, the Dove brand, in collaboration with Mental Health Europe and the e-Enfance association, published a survey on the subject in April 2023. This indicated that almost one in two French adolescents aged 10 to 17 (45%) were negatively impacted by social networks.
Stress, anxiety, drop in self-esteem and self-confidence… many users are aware of these deleterious effects without being able to detach themselves from these media. And if some tools now allow us to better control our exposure to digital media, in particular by measuring the time spent each day on these platforms, it remains difficult to assess their real influence on well-being, and more broadly on mental health. An obstacle that Robert Waldinger, doctor of psychiatry and professor at Harvard, intends to overcome with the help of a simple and rapid test, accessible to all.
At the head of the longest scientific study ever carried out on happiness (more than 85 years), the results of which are published in the work “The Good Life”, the American psychiatrist proposed on his Instagram account, on May 10, to take ten minutes of his time to evaluate his relationship with social networks. And this involves an easily carried out test which can allow you to determine for sure, according to the specialist in any case, whether digital media makes you happy or whether, on the contrary, it drags you down.
Professor Robert Waldinger invites those who wish to engage in a usual activity on online platforms for ten minutes. Once this first step has been completed, you need to ask yourself (and answer) two questions: do I have more or less energy than at the start of this activity? Am I more open to the world and to others or am I more inclined to withdraw into myself? The American psychiatrist then explains that if you feel more dynamic and more open, it is because the activity in question is healthy for you. Otherwise, he advises staying away from it, if not “drastically limiting” this type of digital activity.
Note that the specialist claims to have himself applied this method for news. He explains that he constantly wants to know what is happening around the world, but sinks into a depressive state when he is exposed to too much news. As a result, the objective is now to limit this type of exposure. Note that the test can concern traditional media as well as social networks or online games, among others.